1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a jumper cable assembly for use in charging automotive, marine or other batteries. The jumper cable assembly has particular utility in that it provides a secure locking clamp and has automatic illumination.
2. Description of the Art
When a car battery or other 12-volt battery dies, the vehicle owner connects the dead battery with a charged battery in order to jump-start the vehicle. The batteries are connected via two cables normally having a spring loaded clamp on both terminal ends. The clamps usually have serrated teeth for gripping onto the round battery terminal and at least one portion of the jaws is electrically connected to a conductive cable.
However, the cables known in the art have a number of problems. The spring clamp is often difficult to open, and sometimes requires substantial hand strength to open wide enough to maneuver around and lock onto a battery terminal. When attached, the clamp often lacks a secure connection. It is common for the clamp to slip off the terminal. This can be exasperated by the vibrations of the engine connected to the live battery. Further problems arise when the battery must be charged using jumper cables in the dark. Even if a flashlight is available, it is inconvenient to use unless there is an extra person to hold it. With no source of illumination on either battery, it can be difficult for someone not extremely familiar with both engines to determine where the positive and negative terminals of the battery are.
When a clamp is initially connected with the terminal or regains contact with the terminal after being momentarily disconnected, there can be a surge of current from the charging battery to the discharged battery, which creates a spark. This spark may ignite hydrogen or other explosive gases that are produced by the battery and can be very dangerous. For example, the gas could explode in a person""s face while trying to secure or re-secure the clamp, which slipped off the terminal.
Also, when the connection between the clam and the battery terminal is not secure, the current loop charging the battery is destroyed, making the time required to re-charge the previously discharged battery greater.
It therefore would be advantageous to have a jumper cable assembly that is convenient, safe, provide for a secure, lockable grip, and have the ability to light the work area.
The use of jumper cables is known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 167,529 to Verge discloses a jumper cable assembly that provides cooperating and releasable lockable cable clamps and terminals. This invention provides clamps, which can be locked onto the terminal. However, the Verge patent does not address the problem of easy clamping and release on a variety of terminal shapes and types, and has further drawbacks of not providing illumination or allow for simple, one handed, operation.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,957 to Bellusci discloses jumper cables designed to eliminate any electrical spark when cable clamps are connected across the battery terminals. However, Bellusci""s patent does not provide for jumper cable clamps that are able to lock onto the terminal for a secure connection, and does not allow for illumination of the work area.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,111 to Branham discloses a jumper cable with a safety feature allowing the connection of two batteries with correct polarity regardless of the polarity with which the battery jumper cables are actually connected. This invention provides for a light when the jumper cables are correctly attached to the battery but does not provide for either a secure connection with the battery terminal or a light to aid in connecting the jumper cables to the appropriate battery terminal or chassis.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,044 to Rood discloses a jumper cable assembly having spring loaded clamps and a test probe circuit with a diode, lamp or other attention getting means mounted on the negative terminal clamp that will light up when the proper connection has been made. A separate lamp, bell, or other device will light up or sound when the jumper cables are connected improperly. However, Rood""s patent does not provide for jumper cable clamps that are able to lock onto the terminal for a secure connection, and do not allow for illumination of the work area.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,712 to Black discloses a jumper cable assembly having spring-loaded clamps with an automatic light at one end that indicates the polarity of the batteries being connected. This patent has the same problems as those described hereinabove in that a secure, locking connection to the battery terminal is not provided, and there is no illumination provided by the apparatus outside of the safety feature.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 346,149 to Deering discloses a lighted jumper cable having a light along one side of clamp arm. This patent does not provide for jumper cable clamps that are able to securely lock onto the battery terminal and does not provide an efficient, automatic light that turns on when illumination is needed and turns off when the jumper cables have been properly connected and is no longer needed.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a jumper cable assembly that allows providing a secure locking clamp with automatic illumination. None of the patents described hereinabove make provisions for a jumper cable assembly with both illumination and a means to securely clamp the jumper cable assembly onto the battery terminal or chassis. The patents to Rood, Black and Deering makes no provision for a light that turns on for illuminating the work area before a proper connection is made but only provide light for the user after the connection has been made so that the user can determine if the jumper cables were connected correctly.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved jumper cable assembly that can be used for providing a secure clamp with automatic illumination. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the jumper cable assembly according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a secure clamp with automatic illumination.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of jumper cables now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved jumper cable assembly, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the current jumper cables. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved jumper cable assembly which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a jumper cable assembly which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a positive and a negative insulated electrical cable, a pair of positive and a pair of negative terminal clamps at either end of the cables. Each terminal clamp comprise: a handle section, a jaw section, a pivot section joining the handle section with the jaw section, a means of locking and releasing the jaws section, and a lighting element in electrical communication with battery and a switch wherein current flows through the lighting element when the jaw section is open and no current flows through the lighting element when the jaw section is closed. The lighting element is preferably an ultra-bright LED. The means of locking the jaws closed may be a ratcheting system or a vise grip mechanism.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being manufactured and used in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved jumper cable assembly that has all of the advantages of the art and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved jumper cable assembly that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved jumper cable assembly that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such jumper cable assembly economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new jumper cable assembly that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for charging automotive or other batteries using a jumper cable assembly that is easy to use, illuminates the work area when needed, and provides a secure connection between the batteries. These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.